


Fragile, But Mended

by Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends



Series: We Can Fuse?! [11]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (both lean pretty sympathetic in this though), Alternate Universe - Fusion, Arguing, Banter, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Constipated Boys, Hugging, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Morally Neutral Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Morally Neutral Deceit Sanders, Multi, Neck Kissing, Stabbing Mention, Talking Through Feelings, Teasing, Tentacles, implied/referenced NSFW, violence mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22175434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends/pseuds/Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends
Summary: Remus wasn’t in his room when Roman rose up in it. Apart from the clutter, messy bed sheets, and a target full of knives on the ceiling, it was completely devoid of anything Remus. Roman sighed, sinking out to the Imagination instead. It was where he always went when he needed to blow off steam… perhaps Remus was the same way.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Series: We Can Fuse?! [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1112916
Comments: 36
Kudos: 326





	Fragile, But Mended

Remus wasn’t in his room when Roman rose up in it. Apart from the clutter, messy bed sheets, and a target full of knives on the ceiling, it was completely devoid of anything Remus. Roman sighed, sinking out to the Imagination instead. It was where he always went when he needed to blow off steam… perhaps Remus was the same way.

Once he reached the Imagination, it was much clearer that Remus had been there. It seemed he had carved his own path in the forest, if the hacked-at trees were anything to go by. Any creature that had been in the near vicinity had probably been scared off by now… but Roman summoned his sword, just to be safe. As he followed the path of destruction, the forest grew darker and darker, and Roman got the distinct feeling he was being watched. He eventually came upon a tower in a clearing, and he was fairly sure that Remus was at the top.

“Going the Rapunzel route, are we? It’s not like you to sulk, Remus,” Roman shouted.

“How would you know? You never bothered to get to know me!” Remus shouted back from up in the tower. Roman willed away his sword with a sigh.

“Look, I’m sorry about… whatever it was I did- can we please talk about this?! Don’t make me ask you to throw down your hair,” Roman asked, trying to playfully tease Remus in hopes of lightening the mood. Something suddenly unfurled itself from the window, and for a brief moment Roman thought that Remus had  _ actually _ gone full Rapunzel and let his hair grow out in the Imagination. However, Roman quickly realized that the thing hurtling towards him was a green, slimy tentacle, and it wrapped around his waist and yanked him up into the tower. To his surprise, it set him down rather gently before it shrank back and melded into Remus’s back. Remus was sat on the floor, hugging his knees and giving Roman a flat stare.

“The problem is what you didn’t do,” he said, his voice unlike Remus in every way. Roman frowned.

“Is- well, I know this is about fusion, but- is this because you- you want to fuse with me again?” Roman asked softly.

“No! I  _ hated _ being a part of you- it’s bad enough that we have to share the Imagination! The issue here is that you just- just pretended like we had never been fused at all! And there you were, fusing with your dumb polycule,” Remus fumed, jumping to his feet so that he could pace and gesture frantically.

“Remus-”

“And- and Deceit was there, and I was lonely, but then  _ that _ didn’t even work!” he continued, completely ignoring Roman. His eyes went wide.

“Did- did he make you fuse?” Roman gasped out.

“No! He had just suggested it, said it would be a good way to spite you and your boyfriends. And it worked, for a little bit… but then you had to fuse with Logan, and I began to realize that shocker! Deceit wasn’t being totally honest with why he wanted to fuse,” Remus said, plopping back down on the ground. Roman slowly walked over, as not to startle him, and sat down next to his brother.

“What do you mean?” Roman asked.

“Favian said something about our fusion being… off. But I don’t know if it was in a bad way- I mean sure, we did sorta fuse under false pretenses, but- oh forget it. Feelings are gross,” Remus muttered, flopping backwards to lie on the floor. Roman glanced at him curiously.

“Wait. Do you… like him? And does he-”

“How am I supposed to know?! It was hard to tell whose feelings were whose when we were fused,” Remus whined. Roman let out a light chuckle.

“Trust me, I know the feeling,” he replied fondly.

“Blech, when did this turn into ‘sappy brother bonding time?’ Can we go back to getting on each other’s nerves and trying to kill each other?” Remus said with a mock-gagging noise. Roman rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, was trying my hand at not being a shitty brother. How is it working for you?” Roman asked with a grin.

“Terribly. Leave being the shitty brother to me,” Remus said, sitting up to playfully punch Roman on the arm. Roman let out a burst of laughter, punching Remus back.

“Alright, alright- but seriously. Are- are we good, now?” Roman asked, a little timid. Remus was silent for a moment or two, pondering. 

“I… yes. I think so. For now. But don’t expect a hug or anything, I’m sure we’ll be back at each other’s throats soon enough,” Remus replied with his usual twisted grin, but it seemed more sincere than usual.

“Yeah… that’s fair. So now that  _ that’s _ out of the way… you and Deceit, huh?” Roman replied with his own grin.

“I changed my mind, I hate you.”

“Oh come on! Tell. Me. Everything!” Roman said, accentuating each phrase with a playful nudge.

“Watch it, Roman. I’m still in a stabby mood,” Remus grumbled, but Roman noticed a slight tinge of pink over his cheeks.

“So you  _ do _ like him!”

“Yes? No? I don’t know! Gross, sappy, romance-y stuff is your thing, not mine!” Remus protested, burying his face in his hands.

“Have you tried… talking to him about it?”

“We’re talking about the same Deceit here, right?”

“Okay… so you have a point. But you can’t just… pretend you don’t have feelings. And I don’t think Deceit could do that for as long as he likes to think he can, either,” Roman replied, nudging Remus and trying to get him to look him in the eyes. Remus’s head shot up at the mention of Deceit.

“You’ve gotta be crazier than me to think Dee actually  _ might _ feel the same as me,” Remus scoffed incredulously.

“He fused with you, didn’t he?” Roman teased with a smirk. Remus less-than-playfully shoved Roman, and he was sent toppling over and ended up sprawled out on the floor.

“Shut up! Okay so  _ maybe _ he liked fusing with me, but we’re not like your polycule. We can’t just… talk things out like you guys do!” he replied, shooting up to his feet.

“You’ve… you’ve met me and my boyfriends, right? You seriously think we talked things out? It was a whole mess of miscommunication and things just sort of… happening on their own,” Roman said, rising to his feet and dusting himself off. Remus cackled, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye.

“Yeah… you guys are absolute  _ disasters _ . If you light side dorks can work things out… maybe Dee and I have a chance,” Remus said softly.

“That’s the spirit! I think. You did insult me there in the middle. But go on, go talk to him! Or- or work it out somehow, in your own weird dark side ways,” Roman said with a mildly nervous laugh. Remus grinned, his smile as demented and twisted as it had ever been.

“You’re right! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go seduce a snake!” Remus exclaimed with a cackle, then sunk out of the Imagination. Roman cringed a little at his wording, and made a mental note to stay as far away from Deceit and Remus’s rooms as possible. And with a sigh, he sunk out of the Imagination as well.

When Roman popped back up in the mindscape’s living room, he was greeted by a blur of purple and light blue colliding into him and hugging him tightly. Pax stared up at him with tears streaking down his glittery eyeshadow. Roman chuckled fondly, and ran a hand through Pax’s hair.

“You’re okay! When you went after your brother, I was just so worried and I didn’t know if you were going to be hurt or worse- you’re not hurt, are you?!” Pax rambled, loosening his hold on Roman slightly. Roman only hugged him back tighter, pressing a kiss to his hair.

“I’m fine, Remus and I talked things out! Things aren’t… perfect, but they’re better than before. It wouldn’t be Remus if he didn’t try and stab me every now and again," Roman replied with a chuckle.

“He tried to stab you?!” Pax exclaimed, pulling back slightly to look at Roman with wide, terrified eyes.

“He only threatened to, that’s better than usual! Trust me, things are a lot better now,” Roman assured him. Pax smiled, but it looked a little weak. Roman raised an eyebrow, and Pax sighed.

“Do… do you think I judged them too harshly? That- that I was wrong to be so freaked out?” he asked timidly.

“I think you were right to be cautious. Those two are often up to something… but I think things will settle down a bit, now,” Logan said, walking over and resting a reassuring hand on Pax’s shoulder. Pax sighed, and he stepped back from Roman and Logan. There was a bright flash of light, and Patton and Virgil appeared where Pax stood, holding hands.

“Sorry that we- I, overreacted. It’s just going to take some getting used to!” Patton said, giving a small but no less genuine smile. Virgil, on the other hand, was silent as he let go of Patton’s hand.

“Virge?” Roman asked, wanting to reach out towards him, but at the same time wanting to give him a little space.

“I still don’t really trust either of them… but I trust you. And if you say that they’re alright… I’ll try and keep my cool around them,” Virgil said, peeking up at Roman through his bangs shyly, and giving him a thin smile.

“Thank you, Virgil. And to be fair, I can only vouch for Remus’s character. Which… if I’m being honest, doesn’t speak for much. He’s still chaotic and unpredictable, that’s just who he is! As for Deceit, I’m not really sure about him. Oh and by the way, I think we should keep away from Deceit and Remus’s rooms for a bit. I think they have a… thing, for each other,” Roman explained sheepishly.

“Noted,” Logan replied with a grimace.

“Are we really any better?” Patton asked with a laugh.

“Um, duh? Anyone with eyes can see that those two are crazy about each other,” Virgil scoffed.

“Anyone but those two!” Roman replied with a grin. The four of them broke into laughter, although it was a bit tense and mildly hysterical.

“It’s been quite the afternoon, hasn’t it? I vote we watch Disney movies in a cuddle pile,” Patton said, reaching out to take Virgil and Logan’s hands, then looked to Roman pleadingly.

“You had me at ‘Disney’ and ‘cuddle,’” he replied with a grin.

* * *

Deceit had eventually stopped pacing to collapse into his desk chair with a sigh. His two-headed snake, named Aletheia-Apate (one head was named Aletheia, and the other was named Apate), slithered over to affectionately nuzzle his hand. Aletheia cocked her head in concern, while Apate’s tongue flicked out curiously as she leveled him with a flat stare. Deceit held his hand out, and allowed Aletheia-Apate to coil around his wrist and lay her heads in his palm. He brought his hand up so he could look her in the eyes, then affectionately booped each of her noses. Apate shrank back from his touch and gave him a withering stare, while Aletheia seemed pleased and leaned into his touch.

“Have you come to mock me, my dear?” Deceit crooned, gently running his fingers over her scales. Aletheia nodded her head, while Apate shook hers no. Deceit laughed, shaking his head fondly.

The moment with his pet was rudely interrupted when his door suddenly burst open. Deceit flinched, and glanced over to see that Remus was standing in his doorway, grinning madly and causing his heart to thump traitorously. Perhaps he was developing a heart condition of some kind- his heart rate would always pick up when he saw the dark creative side. Deceit couldn’t fathom why else that would be happening.

“Deceit! I need to- are you moping?” Remus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No! What do you want?!” Deceit snapped, depositing Aletheia-Apate onto his desk and standing up to face Remus.

“What, I need a reason to see my favorite sexy- slithery! My favorite  _ slithery _ snake friend?” Remus replied with a grin, seeming uncharacteristically nervous. Deceit raised an eyebrow, flicking his tongue out to discover that yes, the air was slightly tangy.

“Best not to lie to a liar, Remus. What do you actually want… I’m very busy, you know,” Deceit said, crossing his arms. Remus rolled his eyes, but ended up training his eyes on the floor and rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Iwannatalkaboutwhathappenedearlier,” Remus babbled. Deceit blinked in confusion, trying to decipher what Remus had just said.

“You… want to talk about… fusing?” Deceit tried.

“Uh- yes. Roman and I sorta talked things over! We’re good, or whatever. Probably still gonna stab him when he gets annoying, but that’s just how brotherly love works,” Remus said, a hint of his demented smile growing over his face.

“Right. And…” Deceit trailed off, struggling to find the right words. For whatever reason, he didn’t want what he was going to say end up getting tangled up in his lies.

“Us?” Remus suggested, a soft look in his eyes that Deceit had never seen before. He swallowed nervously, unable to tear his gaze away from Remus’s.

“It was… interesting, fusing with you,” Deceit said, and Remus’s eyes lit up with their usual chaotic glee.

“Interesting? Oh do go on, Dee-Dee, tell me more!” he teased, taking a few steps closer to Deceit. He glared at Remus, but it wasn’t as fierce and angry as he intended it to be.

“It was also frightening, disgusting, stupid, irritating-” Deceit’s breath caught unexpectedly, and Remus had walked over to stand just within reach of Deceit. He found himself backing up into the edge of his desk, Remus following each step until he was looming over Deceit, with his hands braced on the desk, effectively trapping Deceit between his arms. Aletheia-Apate hissed in annoyance, slithering off to who knows where- Deceit was a little too occupied to notice.

“Anything else?” Remus asked, voice low enough to send shivers down Deceit’s spine. Deceit took a shaky breath, trying to collect himself and make sure a lie wouldn’t accidentally slip out.

“I can’t stop wanting to do it again,” Deceit breathed.

“I’m beginning to think we didn’t fuse out of spite, Dee-Deary,” Remus chuckled, but his voice was soft- sincere, almost.

“Oh, it was  _ definitely _ just spite, Remus,” Deceit teased.

“Definitely,” Remus replied, grinning madly- but his voice was still soft and- dare he think it- adoring.

“Remus, I-” Deceit’s voice cut off, as he felt like there was something lodged in his throat- and why on  _ earth _ were his eyes watering, something was clearly wrong with- no, no. Enough lying to himself, for once. Nothing was wrong, really. He just was emotional, and even if he could barely think the actual words he wanted to say… he knew that he cared a lot about Remus. More than he probably should.

“Dee?” Remus asked, voice hushed. Deceit didn’t bother with a reply, instead deciding to grip Remus by his ridiculous, over-the-top collar, and crush his lips against the other side’s. Remus let out a startled gasp of surprise against his mouth, but Deceit didn’t have a chance to pull away and ask if he was okay, because then Remus was pressing in closer, hands reaching up and knocking off his hat so that he could bury his fingers in his hair. Deceit made a disgruntled sound into the kiss, summoning his extra hands to swat Remus’s hands away, while another hand retrieved his hat from where it had ended up on his desk. 

“That’s cheating,” Remus pouted when he pulled away. Deceit merely smirked and put his hat back on.

“Since when have you cared about rules?” he teased. Remus seemed to ponder this for a moment or two, then grinned wickedly.

“I guess you’re right. Plus now you’ve got three times as many hands to feel me up with,” Remus replied, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Deceit groaned, rolling his eyes and tipping his head back in exasperation.

“Remus, you’ve ruined the mome-oh!” Deceit said, his sentence getting interrupted with a surprised shout as Remus took the opportunity to kiss and nip along his neck. Remus’s arms wrapped around his waist, tugging him closer, and Deceit found himself tipping his head back further to give Remus more room. One hand went up to keep his hat from falling off his head, he braced another hand on the desk behind him, the hands gripping Remus’s collar went to grip at his hair, and the last pair of arms wrapped around Remus’s torso.

“You were saying something, Dee?” Remus chuckled against his throat.

“You’re inssssssufferable,” Deceit hissed. Remus leaned up to look Deceit in the eyes with a grin.

“I love it when you get all frustrated and hiss out your words,” Remus cooed.

“Shut up and kiss me!” Deceit muttered, not waiting for an answer and pulling Remus into another kiss. Remus let out a crazed laugh against his mouth, pulling Deceit flush against him as he kissed him deeper. Deceit let out a high-pitched, pleased sound, and his hands scrabbled at Remus’s back, his hair, his clothes- any way he could try and pull Remus closer. But it didn’t feel close enough. A deep yearning settled in the pit of his stomach as all of his arms wrapped tight around Remus- and he was vaguely aware of something wet sliding down his cheeks, but whether it was from himself or Remus, he wasn’t sure- and before he could fully comprehend what was happening, a bright glow emanated from the two of them.

After a bright beam of light, Samael formed where Deceit and Remus had been previously making out. He stumbled backwards, one of his hands going to steady himself on the desk. He brought one of his hands up to his face, feeling the tear tracks from his human eye. One of his snake hands flicked its tongue out in concern, and Samael heard an indignant hiss from Aletheia-Apate, who had slithered back onto the desk.

“Aw, don’t worry my Double A Snake Battery! Double A Snattery? You’re still Deceit’s- my? Favorite?” Samael pondered. Both of Aletheia-Apate’s heads seemed unimpressed. Samael shrugged, and took a moment to look around the room. It didn’t seem too different from Deceit’s- it was still rather dark and shadowy, but a bit more regal, almost. And there was Remus’s throwing knife target in the ceiling.

“Well… since I’m me again, how about I go and torment the others?” Samael said to himself with a toothy grin. And with that, he sank out of his room.

He popped up in the mindscape’s living room to see Roman, Logan, Virgil, and Patton curled up on the couch together, watching Lilo and Stitch. Patton shrieked in surprise upon seeing Samael, and Virgil tensed. Roman and Logan, on the other hand, seemed both surprised and elated to see the fusion.

“Samael? You seem more… stable,” Logan commented, dislodging himself from his boyfriend’s cuddle pile.

“Oh you flatterer- but… I’d actually like to speak with my brother. I’ll bet he still has questions he wants to ask me?” Samael asked softly. Logan smiled, then turned and reached out towards Roman. The prince grinned, taking Logan’s hand and placing a kiss on it, before standing up and pulling him into his arms, then twirling him into a dip. Logan let out a surprised shout that turned into laughter, and the two of them began to glow.

“So! You up for answering more questions?” Favian said after the glow faded, his notepad and pen in hand.

“No, I just made you fuse for no reason,” Samael teased.

“Oh,” Favian said, deflating slightly. Samael rolled his eyes, reaching out and pulling Favian into his arms to ruffle his hair affectionately.

“Of course I wanna answer your dumb questions, you knucklehead!” Samael laughed, playfully poking Favian’s sides. The fusion laughed helplessly, and although Patton and Virgil still seemed wary of Samael, they looked on fondly at the behavior between Samael and Favian. And that was more than Samael could ever ask for.


End file.
